The historic task of the European Union (EU) today, this book argues, is to articulate and institute a new imaginary of prosperity. Imaginaries of prosperity integrate societies around the shared pursuit of a prosperous future, rendering 'political-economic' questions as the main preoccupation of politics. The new imaginary of prosperity in the EU must be able to provide answers to contemporary societal challenges while also conjuring a world in which people want to live. Through analyses of several policy fields, the book shows that the EU has already made modest strides in fostering more caring consumption, circular products and technologies, sustainable industry, and fairer corporate activity. But the EU must go further and faster if it hopes to respond effectively to Europe's problems, while arresting another descent into tribalism. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

‘This is a stirring vision of a new European prosperity! With sparkling prose and steely precision, the author dissects the waning capacities of the neoliberal mindset and the dangers of tribal authoritarianism. More: she reveals neglected pathways in law, policy, and state leadership for asserting a new democratic imaginary. This book is whip-smart, incisive, and hopeful.’

David Bollier - Schumacher Center for a New Economics, USA, and author of Free, Fair and Alive

‘This bold, paradigm-shifting book brings the EU’s law, political economy, and democracy into conversation under the conceptual umbrella of ‘social imaginaries’, thereby providing a new and eye-opening idea of what the EU can be for. Read this book and partake in its imaginary of shared prosperity: it will leave you enriched, inspired, and energised.’

Sacha Garben - Professor of EU Law, College of Europe, Belgium

‘An ambitious project set out with a very special voice. In agreement and disagreement - and there will be plenty of both - very much worth reading.’

J. H. H. Weiler - Joseph Straus Professor of Law and Director, Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice, New York University, USA

‘Marija Bartl skilfully explores the interaction between three views of prosperity in the changing EU context: the privatised prosperity of neoliberalism, the sharing prosperity of the social economy, and exclusionary tribalist imaginaries. She advocates how the sharing imaginary can respond to crises and entrench democracy and solidarity.’

Bob Jessop - Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Lancaster University, UK